LG Rolling Out New Smart TVs At IFA.There is a war being waged by TV makers. A war against set-top boxes. See, TV makers like LG and Sony don’t want you going off and buying a Roku, or iTV, or what have you. So over the last couple years, they keep adding features to their TVs — apps, internet, weather, that kind of thing. LG’s latest, which it will be showing at IFA this next week, doesn’t look terribly different from the stuff we’ve seen from others, but the new control scheme might be fun. Read more at crunchgear.

To Win Over Users, Gadgets Have to Be Touchable.Scientists and academics who study how we interact with technology say people often try to import those behaviors into their lives, as anyone who has ever wished they could lower the volume on a loud conversation or Google their brain for an answer knows well. But they say touching screens has seeped into people’s day-to-day existence more quickly and completely than other technological behaviors because it is so natural, intimate and intuitive. Read the full article at nytimes.

Zoom gets new backing for expanding digital footprint.Dallas-based ORIX Venture Finance has provided what it calls debt financing – no numbers stated – to Zoom Media Group Inc. to let that Montreal media company expand its footprint and services in the US and Canada, particularly as it relates to digital displays. Zoom has been one of the most aggressive firms in the sector in expanding its digital presence directly and by acquiring other firms that fir the model. The company started putting posters in restaurants and bars in Montreal and Toronto, but now has a large US operation and has grown very active in the fitness club sector. Read dave Haynes full article at Sixteen:Nine.

Flextronics provides pay hike in southern China.Singapore-based EMS provider Flextronics International has raised basic wages for employees at its production base in Zhuhai, southern China, from an average of 960 yuan (US$141) to 1,100, the same as paid in Shenzhen, where wage levels are the highest in southern China, according to Flextronics China vice president Fu Jun. The raise is expected to increase Flextronics' overall costs by about 2-5%, Fu pointed out. Sourced from digitimes.

CPT to adjust 70% capacity at 4.5G for touch panel production.Taiwan-based TFT-LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) will adjust 70% of the production capacity at its 4.5G line in northern Taiwan for producing touch sensors for projected capacitive touch panels, according to the company. Monthly shipments of touch senors are expected to increase to over three million units in the second half of 2010 from two million units currently, CPT noted. Read more at digitimes.

Seiko Epson Rolls Reflective High-temperature Polysilicon TFT LCD panel.The LCD panel, which is targeted at the display elements of projectors, has a screen size of 0.74 inches and a pixel count of 1,920 x 1,080 (full HD). Seiko Epson has been mass-producing transmissive high-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD panels and has already shipped 60 million units. This time, the company started the volume production of a reflective high-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD panel for the first time in the world, it said. Read more at techon.

WSJ: Panasonic Says US Flat-Panel TV Sales Slowing.OSAKA (Dow Jones)--Panasonic Corp.(6752.TO) said Tuesday it is seeing a sharp slowdown in U.S. flat-panel television sales, while also noting weak demand in both Europe and China, echoing a similarly bearish assessment of the market from rival Sony Corp. (6758.TO). Read more at wsjonline.Think You’re Smarty Pants? Look Around, Get Smarter!Mike Cearley of 11th Screen talks about what makes a company great. He says, Identify as many smart people around you, friends and/or co-workers, and talk to them. Build a relationship with them. Learn from them. Smart people make smart people smarter. And as I’ve said, before I yearn to learn. It’s just amazing how much knowledge is usually right in front of us, in the places and the people we see on a regular basis. Embrace it. Learn from them. Get smarter. Read more at 11thscreen.